


Late Nights are Dangerous

by CanadianSlytherin



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, Tarsus IV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-18
Updated: 2015-05-18
Packaged: 2018-03-31 02:23:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3960814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanadianSlytherin/pseuds/CanadianSlytherin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim knows he shouldn't ever stay up for days on end, but it wasn't his fault! The mission dragged on and on! And okay, his First Officer is pretty nice so he couldn't resist... But then... well, late nights plus no food for a few days? Not good.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Late Nights are Dangerous

"Spock, do you mind if I joined you in your quarters? I want to do these reports on the mission incident and you were awake for more of than I was." Jim spoke, bags of exhaustion under his brilliant blue eyes. He was exhausted but prefered to get his work done before going to sleep. Spock's dark eyes sparked with concern as he studied his Captain- his hair was disheveled, eyes were dull, and dark circles ringed his eyes and he was pale, and though the Vulcan would never admit it, he was worried. 

"Captain, I urge you to rest," he replied softly. "You have gone a long time without adequate rest or nurishment. I can file the incident reports myself." He protested, but predictably, Jim shook his head.

"I want to do them myself." Spock studied him briefly, before nodding in consent.

"Very well, Captain." And thus, the pair headed to the elevator lift, greeting a few esgins that passed them. "Deck Five," Spock spoke, and once they arrived, they headed to the quarters connected to Jim's. Once they entered, he gestured to the desk in the corner of the room. "Will this space suffice? It is the only desk I have that will seat us both comfortably." 

"It's fine, Spock." and with that, Jim sat and pulled out his PADD and began typing his report, pausing every now and again to ask Spock for clarification on things Jim himself could not remember.

Spock hated the previous mission. It had been a First Contact mission, and the species living on the planet was reported friendly, and they resembled large Terran ants. After the entire thing was finished, Nyota had joked that they should have seen it coming- Jim was allergic to ants and had a deep dislike for the pests, as they always seemed to be on every planet they had gone to. ("I'm telling ya, Spock, it isn't natural, it's like ants launch themselves across the galaxies so that way they're everywhere. And I'm allergic to all of them. I'm telling ya, it is not natural." He would insist.)

However, despite the apparent friendly nature the species, the Formicae seemed to be, that didn't stop things from going very weong, very fast, when they had wished to greet Jim in a way native to their culture, and it apparently involved a rather obscene Terran gesture that Jim refused to do, with a furious blush spreading across his face. Evidently, though friendly, the Formicae were also a easily offended species, with strict laws; for when Jim refused, they threw him in a prison and Spock as well when he defended his Captain. And so the pair spent four days in a cell, not being fed and had not been permitted to sleep. Spock had been able to handle it fine, though the Captain had not and the Formicae as a resukt, whenever Jim tried to sleep, would release something into the air that Jim thankfully wasnt allergic to, but did succeed in keeping him awake until the Enterprise had been able to locate and resucue them.

Since Jim had gone close to 5 days without adequate rest, Spock was not surprised when he had fallen alseep. Spock smiled slightly to himself- Jim was quite aesthetically pleasing, even in his sleep. His mouth was open slightly and there was a slight snore when he inhaled, and his eyelids fluttered on occasion, and he appared to be in a comfortable sleep.

As such, it surprised Spock when Jim jolted awake some half hour later, drenched in sweat and screaming. Startled, Spock spoke.

"Captain? Captain? Jim, are you alright? Shall I fetch Doctor McCoy?" out of breath, and tears running down Jim's face, he shook his head. "What happened, are you alright?"

"I... I can't... can you... meld?" he stammered. Spock nodded, and rushed to his side and pressed his fingers against the PSI points and suddenly, he was staring at a 13 year old Jim.

_"Jim, Jimmy, honey," a woman with curly, golden hair spoke, "I got a job on Tarsus IV, you know the place- my brother and his wife live there. A fast and easy job, and it pays a lot. I have you enrolled in an Academy there- one of the best on the colony," she smiled._

_"How long is it gonna take, Ma?"_

_"A year or so. Like I said, fast and easy. Do you want to come with me?" Excited, Jim nodded._

_~~~~~~_

_Jim, now taller and lankier, bounded into the kitchen, followed by two boys and a girl- all wore the same uniform._

_"Ma! Come meet my friends!" he beamed, gesturing behind him. "This is Kevin," he pointed to the first one, a young boy who was obviously half Orion- his green ears had the shape of a human's. "Ryan," he gestured to the only Human. "And this is Acel," he said, pointing to the Andorian girl._

_Mrs. Kirk smiled at them, "Hello you three."_

_"Hello, Mrs. Kirk!" They chorused._

_Laughing, Mrs. Kirk shook her head. "Call me Wioana."_

_~~~~~_

_"Mom, we can't just do nothing!"_

_"James, we are being allowed to live! We can't do anything! We could jeopardize that!"_

_Jim's face contorted with rage. "If you won't help anyone then I will! We can't just let them die! I know the famine has been hard but Mom!-"_

_A loud slap resonated in the air and Jim stumbled and stared in shock._

_"There. is. nothing. we. can. do. Do you understand me, James Tiberius Kirk."_

_"No, Mom. Half my friends are dead! I'm not letting anyone else die!" he snarled and he turn and ran, ignoring his mother's calls for him to come back._

_Jim ran, weaving around trees and bracken, running harder and faster than he ever had before. He had to make it, he had to._

_The town square finally reached Jim's kine of sight and he saw a few little kids and Jim wanted to cry. They couldn't have been older than 6 at most._

_"Psst. Psst! Riley!" he called softly. He recognized one. Riley, a brown haired boy, looked over._

_"Jim?"_

_"Come here. Bring those other kids with you- crawl though! I don't want you to be seen!" Riley obeyed and when the 7 children made it to Jim, a tall, fat Human appeared._

_"Kodos..." Jim whispered. "Get down, he can't see us." Jim ordered, voice steady although Spock could see the fear in Jim's eyes. Nodding the children obeyed and crouched down._

_"Ladies and Gentlemen, in light of the famine, I have had to make a difficult decision. There are simply too many people alive here for our food to support. Therefore, I have complied a list, based on intelligence, ability, age, and other attributes, to decide who should live and die.The revolution was successful, but survival depends on drastic measures. Your continued existence is a threat to the well-being of society. Your lives mean slow death to the valued members of society. Therefore I have no alternative but to sentence you to death. Your execution is so ordered." he waved his hand. "Fire at will."_

_Jim watched helpless as 4,000 people fell and died, dropping like flies and Jim wanted to scream when he saw his Aunt and Uncle go down first and he started crying when he saw Acel and Ryan die. Turning back to Riley, he whispered urgently, "Quick, go back to my house you have to run and be quiet go, run," and no sooner did the children run than did a guard look over and see James._

_"You there! Halt! You cannot escape." Jim froze in fear before turning tail and fleeing, feet pounding the ground and he ran, ran ran ran ran ran._

_~~~~~~_

_Sometime later, Starfleet finally arrived and saved then but at that time Jim was 14 and 5'7 and barely topped the scales at 100 pounds, soaking wet. It had been nearly 8 months and he finally saw his mother._

_"Jim! Jimmy!" she screamed and he flinched and held up his thin, frail arms to protect his face._

_~~~~~_

_Jim was now 16 and finally at a healthy weight. Angry red cuts marred his shoulders and hips and scars littered his body. He stared at his debate topic- "Tarsus IV: Was Kodos justified?" It was then that Jim gave up on humanity and it would be a long time before he would have hope for it again._

Spock was pulled out of the memories, tears streaming his face as he pulled Jim up and into his arms, running at his scalp while Jim cried into Spock's shoulders. It took a long time but he finally calmed down.

"Ashayam, I am so proud of you. You saved 7 children, you did more than anyone else would have. I'm so proud of you," he whispered, pressing soft and gentle kisses all over Jim's face.

Jim shook his head, "I should have done more. Acel, Ryan and Kevin... they all died... So did my aunt and uncle."

"James, there's nothing more you could have done. You saved children and survived. And I am so proud of you."

It was a long time before Jim believed Spock, and an even longer time before Spock would allow Jim on away missions. But when Jim hugged Spock one night and kissed him the Vulcan way and whispered thanks for hours on end one night, Spock knew they would be okay.


End file.
